Computers are now everyday tools, and are regularly being used in all walks of life and all around the world. As computers have become more and more commonplace, computer designers have sought to make computers still more accessible and user-friendly. One such effort to make computers still easier to use has been the development of natural input methods. These methods, which allow speech and handwriting input, permit a user to enter data into a computer simply by speaking the data out loud or writing the data on a digitizer with a stylus to create electronic ink. With speech input, the phonemes of the input are analyzed to convert the speech input to typewritten text. Similarly, if the input is electronic ink, the shapes of the ink are analyzed to convert the handwriting into typewritten text.
The advent of natural input methods has been particularly beneficial to computer users who desire to create data in an Asian language. Latin languages are typically written with a phonetic character set or alphabet, where each character represents a sound. Latin languages thus employ a relatively small number of characters (including punctuation). Accordingly, most, if not all, of the characters used to write in a Latin language can be provided on a keyboard. Many Asian languages, however, may be written with a pictographic character set having thousands of characters. Needless to say, a keyboard cannot contain enough keys to represent such a large number of characters.
To address this problem, computer developers have created specialized programs for converting alphabetic characters into pictographic characters. For example, a computer user in Japan may type a desired word of data using characters from a phonetic alphabet, such as Hiragana or Katakana (collectively referred to herein as “Kana” characters). The user may then activate a Kana-to-Kanji conversion software application, which provides the user with a selection of possible alternates for the word from the Kanji character set. The user can then select the appropriate Kanji character (or characters), which are stored as the input data.
As previously noted, the development of natural input methods has greatly assisted Asian language computer users. Rather than always having to convert phonetic Kana characters to pictographic Kanji characters, the user may instead enter the desired data as speech input, or employ a stylus to write pictographic Kanji characters directly in electronic ink. For example, Asian language versions of the Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC operating system provide a special user interface for receiving data from natural input methods. This type of user interface, sometimes referred to as a “TIP” (for text input panel or tablet input panel), includes a handwriting input area corresponding to an area of a digitizer onto which a user can write with a stylus to create electronic ink. This electronic ink is then converted to typewritten characters or “recognized.”
After the electronic ink has been recognized, the recognized characters are inserted into the target user interface of a software application (such as a word-processing application like Microsoft Word) at an insertion point. With some configurations, the text input panel may also display the recognized characters before inserting them at the insertion point. This allows a user to correct any misrecognition of the character before it is inserted. Other configurations, however, may insert the recognized characters directly into the target user interface.
While this type of natural input method tool is more convenient for Asian language users, there will still be some circumstances in which a user will desire to convert one or more phonetic characters into a phrase containing a pictographic character. For example, some Kanji characters are extremely complex, and require a writer to write a significant number of strokes. Thus, while a user may recognize a Kanji character, the user may not remember how to accurately write the Kanji character. Also, even if the user does know how to write the desired Kanji character, it may be faster to write simpler Kana characters and then convert them into the desired Kanji character.
Accordingly, it is still desirable to provide Asian language users employing natural input methods with the ability to convert phonetic characters into pictographic characters.
With conventional character conversion tools, the functionality of the tool is accessed from within the target user interface after the user has inserted the phonetic characters (either from a keyboard or from recognized electronic ink). When a user selects phonetic characters to convert into a phrase containing a pictographic character, the tool provides a list of possible choices (referred to herein as “alternates” or “alternate choices”). This list of alternate choices is displayed in or near the target user interface. Similarly, if the user wishes to change the segmentation of the selected phonetic text, the controls for changing the segmentation will typically be displayed in or near the target user interface. When the user is employing a separate text input interface, however, this arrangement is inconvenient and distracting. With the conventional arrangement, the user must continuously switch his or her attention from the separate text input interface to the target user interface.
Accordingly, rather than accessing the functionality of a conversion tool through the target user interface, it would be more desirable to access the functionality of the tool through the separate text input interface. For example, if the user is employing a text input panel as described above, it would be desirable to allow the user to access the functionality of a character conversion tool through the text input panel rather than through the target user interface (or through another specialized user interface). This arrangement would allow a user to input handwriting data, view the characters recognized from the handwriting data, select one or more of the recognized characters for conversion to a phrase containing a pictographic character, and then select the desired phrase before any characters are inserted into the target user interface. Moreover, the user would not need to divert his or her attention from the data input panel at any time during the process.